Nevada Rifle shoots and misses in season opener

Nevada rifle opened competition Saturday, Oct. 13 against UTEP and Air Force. The Wolf Pack posted a combined score of 4589 — scores are awarded based on where a shooter hits the target. The target is a series of smaller rings and range from one to 10. Every shooter is given 60 attempts at varying distances, but it wasn’t enough to top their competition, losing to Air Force — 4702 — and falling five points short of UTEP.

Top finisher among the Pack was senior Mitchell Van Patten. Patten finished with a smallbore score of 578, which was good enough for fifth place. He would also go on to score 585 in the air rifle category, earning him the ninth-place position. His aggregate score of 1163 pushed him to eighth overall during Nevada’s time at the competition.

Other notable standout performances came from sophomore Nadine Ahola, who made her debut on the varsity lineup for Nevada. She placed 11th in air rifle while achieving a score of 583.

Nevada looks to steady the ship when it returns to action Saturday, Oct. 20 in El Paso, Texas for a rematch with UTEP.

Ryan Freeberg can be reached at dstrugs@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @SagebrushSports.